Howard Lewis
"You know, if I ever had an opportunity to go back in time and tell my past self something, I honestly wouldn't tell him anything. I would just walk up to him and beat the life out of him until he realizes that he isn't the big-deal gangster king that he thinks he is... and that he needs to prepare himself for even worse challenges to come in the future." - Howard to Bobby, Silver Blizzard Howard Caine Lewis is a minor character in A Different Perspective ''and a supporting character in ''Silver Blizzard. He is Matthew Wang's oldest and closest friend, and is also part of Bobby's childhood friend group. Appearance When they were younger, Howard was on the taller side; however, as the others began to grow, he grew taller at a slower pace and as such was eventually surpassed by Sherman Tendo. Currently, he is the same height as Bobby. tba Personality “He’s a self-described 'Cool Kid'. He always has to show up at just the right time.” - Ethan Hsu, on Howard's personality In both stories, Howard is depicted as an aloof and almost thuggish person to most people. At a young age, Howard was physically larger than most kids and a bit of a cruel person, and enjoyed using his size and intimidation to manipulate others. Before Matthew Wang talked him into accepting Sherman and Bobby Topalis as friends, he had frequently bullied them. Bobby notes that Howard seemed downright hostile towards him for reasons uncertain, even after he accepted him as a friend. However, he eventually matured and became a better person, but retained the detached exterior. Despite this aloof attitude, however, and in a stark contrast to his younger self, Howard really does care about Bobby and the rest of his friends. He tends to call them "shrimp" for reasons uncertain. Compared to the rest of the group, Howard has the worst reputation in the school; most people see him as a thug or a gangster of some kind, which further bolsters the rumor that their friend group is actually affiliated with a gang. This is mainly due to his past reputation as a bully, along with the fact that Howard is the only member of the group who has ever been arrested. Though he did not commit the crime, the rumor still spread and many people began to see him as "that guy who was in jail", ignoring the fact that he never did anything wrong. Another important thing to note about Howard is that despite his thuggish attitude, he is greatly swayed by his parents, who have been very harsh and strict on him since he got in serious trouble at school due to a bullying incident involving Bobby and Nick Collins. His current serious attitude is mainly due to their influence at a young age; notably, the fact that they practically drowned out any sense of humor he had after the incident. Thanks to this, it is very hard to make him genuinely laugh about something. Matthew prides himself as the only person who has made Howard laugh in the past four years, though some of the others doubt the truth of his claim as nobody else was there to back it up. Howard is also noted to be good at math, though he does not particularly enjoy it. This seems to be a pattern for him; he often dislikes the things that he is good at, which are often effortless for him. He sees these things as pointless and bland. Plot In A Different Perspective "Pass test one, pass test two! Test three sucks and so do you!" - Young Howard, taunting Bobby, Megumi, and Sherman Howard is one of Bobby's childhood friends from America. At some point between the two Acts, Howard, along with Matthew, noticed a bank robbery commencing; in his typical reckless fashion, Matthew began to give chase while Howard called the local police. Noticing their pursuers, one of the robbers revealed a gun and shot Matthew twice, killing him. Stunned by the sudden death of his closest friend, Howard was motionless as their car, now driverless, crashed straight into the van they were pursuing, killing him. Howard's death reaches Bobby when the twins arrive in Japan; the trauma awakens old, painful memories that he had tried to previously lock away and forget. In Silver Blizzard At the beginning of the story, Bobby admits that he used Howard as a device to make his protagonist have a more tragic backstory. He notes that Howard, along with Matthew, is still alive and well. Howard first appears in the first chapter, where he joins the others in a quick chat before homeroom. Here, he lightheartedly remarks that Ethan's life is practically a TV show and encourages him to get a real life. In response, Ethan points out that he is just trying to take attention away from himself, notably the fact that he spent the entire weekend playing League of Legends with Matthew and a fellow classmate, Austin. After class, Howard silently watches with folded arms and dry amusement as Nick and a crowd of other guys bombard Yukitsuki with various questions. However, he does not step in to help her, instead letting Ethan do so. Howard walks out of homeroom with the rest of his friends and is present when Ethan starts talking to Yukitsuki. When they start discussing the Economics Honors teacher, Mr. Gorham, Matthew notes that Gorham could probably shout the sense into Howard if he tried, earning him a dark yet playful glare from Howard. Howard also appears in the following chapter, where he grabs Matthew's food for him. At his arrival, Matthew remarks that appearing on cue like he does is typical of a "Cool Kid" like him, and Howard responds by almost apathetically challenging the possibility that Matthew knows what he's trying to do. He acts completely unsurprised and almost indifferent to Yukitsuki's presence. During the lunch period, Howard, as usual, doesn't talk much; rather, he just listens to the others. When Bobby shoves a piece of Yukitsuki's food into Matthew's mouth, however, he speaks up, remarking that Matthew deserved it since he wouldn't shut up. Around this time, Howard's family began to pressure him into joining a competitive math club due to his natural skill at math. Thanks to this, Howard does not hang out with Bobby or the others after school and over the weekend. Though he is present in homeroom when Ayame Ootori introduces herself, he is missing at lunch the same day. Relationships Bobby Topalis Bobby and Howard have had an interesting relationship over the years. When they first met, Howard was a cruel bully who would use intimidation and well-placed words to strike fear and doubt into people who annoyed him, and Bobby was one such person. It took a bit of convincing from Matthew for Howard to accept Bobby into the group; even then, for several months after that Howard still treated Bobby with some level of hostility. After a year, oddly enough, Howard suddenly underwent a complete 180-degree turn and started acting like Bobby was a close old friend. Though initially suspicious of him, Bobby eventually came to the conclusion that Howard was legitimately beginning to warm up to him. In reality, this didn't happen until a few years later. At the time, Howard's own influence and reputation was beginning to weaken, and he planned on using Bobby as an accomplice to torment anyone he saw as needing "reconciliation". Bobby, being somewhat oblivious to more obvious things like that, paid no attention and just went along with what Howard did. As a result, Howard and Bobby frequently worked together in bullying people such as Nick Collins without the knowledge of their other friends. This behavior did not stop until the school faculty picked up on this and punished the two appropriately. Both of their parents were alerted to this. After that incident, Howard and Bobby still interacted, though they were notably a little colder to each other than before. This trend continued for a little while until Ethan Hsu joined the group; after that, the two reconnected and re-strengthened their relationship. Howard is one of the few people who Bobby trusts to discuss serious situations with. He is fully aware of his effect on Bobby in the past and does feel some remorse and guilt for it. However, most of these emotions are quashed out by the busy nature of his life and the extreme pressure his parents put on him to succeed. Andrew Topalis Though Howard and Andrew rarely interact, Bobby occasionally talks to his father about his friends, and as such Andrew knows about them. Andrew despises Howard the most out of all of them and is prone to lashing out in an emotional outburst at the mention of his name alone. He frequently tells Bobby to avoid him and cut his ties with him, mainly due to Howard formerly being a hostile bully towards Bobby in childhood (before their friendship), his eventual past with Bobby which lead to both getting in big trouble, and the fact that Howard is the only member who had been detained in jail, albeit for a crime he did not commit. Andrew's distaste for Howard also stems from his influence on Bobby at a younger age. Trivia * During his time in elementary and middle school, Howard went by the nickname "Weed". * Howard has a knack for precision, especially when it comes to shooting and aiming. He is quite adept at shooting rubber bands and even guns. * Howard is an avid gamer and often plays online games such as League of Legends. ** He is most skilled at first and third person shooter games, but prefers MOBAs. * Howard's favorite word is "chickenerd". Category:DF's Fan Works